Digital Skills

Digital skills for all is one of the three main areas of our work at Smart Chicago. Our vision is that there is a cohesive trainer network in Chicago that delivers the right training at the right time to the right person. We have a number of programs that support digital skills, including Connect Chicago, the Chicago School of Data, CUTGroup, #CivicSummer, and all of our work under the Hive Learning Network.

Reporting Back on City Bureau’s Open House

Chris Walker
City Bureau people in public meeting

An attendee exploring one of City Bureau’s articles in front of orange-capped Editorial Director, Darryl Holliday

On Wednesday, January 27th, our partner City Bureau hosted their first open house at Experimental Station, a curious wing-shaped building in Woodlawn, Chicago. A number of south-side focused grass-roots organizations call Experimental Station home, including 61st street Famers Market, Blackstone Bikes, Link Up Illinois, and South Side Weekly.

Experimental Station

Southside Weekly’s workroom in Experimental Station

City Bureau is a community newsroom that aims to divest from the traditional journalism model and regenerate civic media. The integral part of that is placing the narratives of the west and south sides back into the hands of its most overlooked residents– the youth.

City Bureau operates with a level-based model where reporters are placed into three tracks. Level three is the most experienced track of reporters in which the journalists work in the field and also act as mentors to the level one reporters. Level one reporters are the least experienced, but are also the youth that have the most intimate stake in the action in their own neighborhoods.

“This training [rubric] fosters social and emotional learning in conjunction with trauma training,” explained Educational Director, Andrea Hart. She designs and writes curriculum for the level one program. She further explained that “these people, because of historically racist/classist policies, are experiencing complex trauma and therefore it is important to contextualize curriculum accordingly. Trauma informed education doesn’t harm anyone. It’s a benefit to all whether or not they have gone through traumatic experiences.” The training and mentorship that the youth receive operate within this framework.

City Bureau

Level 3 reporter, Xavi, speaking to an attendee

They were joined on Wednesday by their partners Illinois Humanities and the Invisible Institute.

Read more on City Bureau’s Police Accountability highlight in the Reporting Back series with Illinois Humanities here.

The Invisible Institute was there showcasing the Citizen’s Police Data Project, a digital map which showcases a database of 56,000 misconduct complaint records for more than 85,000 Chicago police officers.

citizens police data project

Screenshot of  cpdo.co

Chaclyn Hunt, head of the Youth / Police project at the Invisible Institute explained the Citizens Police Data project. Users of this tool may search by officer name and badge number. An interesting catch that they learned while collecting this data, is that badge numbers are recycled, so a search of a single number may come up with the compiled complaints of three different officers. To assure accurate information, names and numbers must be cross checked.

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Chaclyn Hunt explaining the Citizens Police Data Project to an attendee

Some search categories of this tool include: Bribery/Official Corruption, Verbal Abuse, Drug / Alcohol Abuse, Illegal Search, and dozens more. One may search by outcome i.e. allegations, sustained, or unsustained and also by race and gender.

If you are abreast of the current unconscionably racist climate in Chicago, it is unsurprising that a black person is twice as likely to file a complaint against the a police officer, but half as likely to have the complaint addressed. Additionally, black police officers are twice as likely to be punished versus their white counterparts.

Read more on the work of the Invisible Institute here.

Editorial Director, Darryl Holliday

Editorial Director, Darryl Holliday

For more on City Bureau follow them on Twitter, Facebook, or follow their blog.

Come to the February 2016 Connect Chicago Meetup: Chicago Public Library’s Internet to Go Program

Denise Linn

Our next Connect Meetup will feature the Chicago Public Library’s hotspot lending program, Internet to Go.

At the event, the Connect Chicago community will learn about Internet to Go, hear about the program’s goals & impact, and have a larger discussion about 21st Century Library resources addressing digital equity. Lunch will be served.

Event: Chicago Public Library’s Internet to Go Wi-Fi Hotspot Lending Program

Where: The Chicago Community Trust

When: Friday, February 26th from 11am to 1pm

RSVP at this link.

Our special guest will be Michelle Frisque, the Chief of Technology, Content and Innovation at the Chicago Public Library.  

You’re invited to join this cross-sector discussion on libraries and Internet access projects. Come meet and network with computer trainers, nonprofit professionals, and fellow residents who care about the digital lives of Chicagoans.

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About Internet to Go

Chicago Public Library’s innovative Internet to Go program lets patrons check out a Wi-Fi hotspot for three weeks. Launched in 2015, the lending program targets neighborhoods with low Internet use and adoption, giving patrons in that neighborhood free access they can take outside of the library’s walls. Supporters of the programs include the Knight Foundation & Google.

“To increase engagement with the Internet in communities with extremely low Internet use, Chicago Public Library will test Wi-Fi hotspot lending from six neighborhood libraries in combination with robust digital skills coaching. Laptops and tablets will also be available. Devices will be loaned for three weeks, and digital and information literacy services will be made available to patrons at checkout. Internet to Go will allow the library—already the city’s largest provider of free Internet access—to test the idea, refine it and ultimately expand the project.” – The Knight Foundation

Hotspots are available for check-out at the following Chicago Public Library branches:

  • Austin
  • Brighton Park
  • Daley Richard M.-W, Humboldt
  • Douglass
  • Galewood-Mont Clare
  • Greater Grand Crossing
  • Legler
  • North Pulaski
  • Vodak-East Side
  • Woodson Regional Library.

You can read more about the Internet to Go Program here. You can access the program’s FAQs here.

Austin

Connect Chicago January 2016 Meetup Recap: Co-Creating a Digital Access & Skills Ecosystem

Denise Linn

On Friday January 29th, trainers, program coordinators, and public sector leaders from all across Chicago came together to Co-Create a Digital Access & Skills Referral Network for Chicago.

We were pleased to see friends and collaborators from Chicago Public Library, Microsoft, Safer Foundation, Blue 1647, YWCA Chicago, Jane Addams Resource Corporation, Literacy Works, LISC Chicago, Chicago Housing Authority, and many other institutions in attendance.

Why build this network? First, there is obvious value in taking inventory of all of the digital/tech skill-building programs in the city. Second, after the inventory is taken, we, as a sector, can begin to understand how our work fits together. By simply knowing where Adler Planetarium can recruit new youth, or where the Cara Program can refer its patrons to next, we illuminate learning pathways for Chicago residents.

To see a growing list of Connect Chicago people and programs, see our Twitter list.

You can read about our inspiration for hosting this event here and read more about the taxonomy that organized the event here.

Discovering Learning Pathways Across Programs

This was a highly interactive Meetup. Every program in attendance had a poster complete with detailed program information (from this survey), a flyer, an envelope for business cards or feedback, and space for others to mark if:

“I would refer my patrons to this program”

– and / or –

“I would recruit patrons who completed this program”

See Career Transitions Center of Chicago’s poster for an example:

1_CareerTransitionsCenterofChicagoatOldSt.Patricks

This was a “low tech” method of getting rich, hard-to-collect data from scattered sources.

If you enlarge the image above, you’ll see a hypothetical learning pathway for a resident. A digital learner in Chicago might start at Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH). POAH might then might refer that patron to Career Transitions Center of Chicago for both emotion/professional support as digital skills are improved. Then, if that patron is interested in the manufacturing field, they can go from Career Transitions Center of Chicago to the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC). That is just one route to a goal. We want to illuminate more.

At the end of the Meetup event, we raffled off funds to one of the participating programs. We were pleased to award $1000 in funds to the Jack Ehrlich Literacy Program at the Anixter Center – a training program that provides one-on-one mentoring to adults with disabilities. According to Anixter’s Digital Access & Skills Referral Network Survey Response:

“We have a general computer class to teach internet navigation, typing, mouse usage, etc. Learners can work 1:1 on any computer skills they wish. We have iPads and touchscreen computers, and accessible technology, all of which people can learn to use.”

The city is filled with programs like Anixter. These programs and training sites work everyday, playing their specialized role in strengthening the digital access & skills ecosystem of Chicago.

Resources from the Meetup

You can access all the resources from the January Meetup in the Connect Chicago Shared Google Folder. In this folder you’ll find:

  • A spreadsheet of the Digital Access & Skills Referral Network Survey responses. Note: If you are a participating program and see an email address or item that you would prefer not to be shared publically, please email
  • High resolution pictures of every featured program poster at the Meetup (including
  • Every program flyer featured at the Meetup
  • Notes from the Meetup. There is a section in the notes where organizations can post announcements and resources — we encourage everyone to contribute.
  • The presentation from the Meetup.

The work isn’t over. We plan to build on this material with your help. Digital/tech training programs or access programs can still fill out the Digital Access & Skills Referral Network Survey to be included.

Thank you to all of the training sites and programs that participated in the January 29th Connect Chicago Meetup! More data and tools will be released as a result of this great work. Follow the Smart Chicago blog for news and updates.

Toward a Taxonomy for a Digital Access & Skills Ecosystem

Denise Linn

Smart Chicago has thought about taxonomies before as they related to data ecosystems. We’ve found this exercise to be foundational to supporting complex, citywide work like the Chicago School of Data. Now, inspired by Connect Chicago, we’ve defined a taxonomy for our city’s digital access & skills ecosystem. 

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The taxonomy presented in this post inspired the structure of the Digital Access & Skills Referral Network Survey and the January 2016 Connect Chicago Meetup. Together, the data collection from the survey and the Meetup will form the necessary ingredients for something we believe both residents and individual programs will benefit from: a map of the digital learning pathways available to Chicagoans.

What is a Digital Access & Skills Ecosystem?

A digital access & skills ecosystem is a collection of people, places, and programs that

  1. Introduce the Internet or new technology to residents and/or
  2. Help residents practice and improve the skills to use the Internet or new technology

Below are just a few specific programing examples submitted by YWCA Chicago, the Safer Foundation, and Metropolitan Family Services of Chicago — three very different institutions doing great, complimentary work in our city:

Like in many cities, Chicago’s digital access & skills ecosystem was bolstered by investments from the National Telecommunications & Information Association’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). That funding supported work at local public computing centers and created a loose network of learning sites across the city.

Now, after BTOP, Chicago’s challenge is to take that network, support it, and make it stronger.

Classifying the Layers of Chicago’s Digital Access & Skills Ecosystem

The first step in making the network stronger is understanding what it looks like after BTOP.

Right now, Chicago’s digital access & skills ecosystem has several layers of communities, people, and places:

  • Learners of different ages, backgrounds, technology comfort levels, and motivations.
  • Trainers/Teachers  — some volunteer, some professional, and some with particular skill or language specializations. In Chicago, they implement programs of all types which include, but are not limited to:
    • basic computer classes
    • MOOC learning peer groups
    • one-on-one computer help
    • workforce development programs with digital training components
    • ESL classes with digital training components
    • arts programs with digital training components
    • introductory coding classes
    • STEM programs
  • Coordinators in the form of institutional, program, or site-level managers
  • Supporters who financially back one or several programs, sites, or site networks. These supports include, but are not limited to:
    • Corporations
    • Foundations
  • Sites (offering one to many programs) which include, but are not limited to:
    • community centers
    • afterschool programs
    • faith-based institutions
    • museums
    • library branches
    • workforce development centers
    • health clinics
  • Site Networks (sometimes overlapping) which include, but are not limited to:
    • Chicago Public Libraries
    • Literacy Works
    • LISC Chicago Financial Opportunity Centers
    • Chicago Department of Family & Social Services (DFSS)
    • Chicago Housing Authority (CHA)
    • Smart Chicago Health Centers
    • Chicago Citywide Literacy Technology Pilot Locations

In short, this is complex, decentralized ecosystem with many actors and limited resources. Learners seek to master new skills across programs and places, but different programs and places don’t always communicate with one another.

post pic 2

Classifying the Programming in Chicago’s Digital Access & Skills Ecosystem

Digital access & skills programing in Chicago (and any city) can be classified by mission and method:

  • Program Mission related to increasing access & skills
    • Goal
      • Direct, or when a program explicitly seeks to improve digital access & skills
      • Indirect, or when a program indirectly improves digital access & skills to achieve another primary or complimentary outcome (for instance, employment, English language learning, or violence prevention)
    • Reach
      • Demographic target (for instance, age, race, or gender)
      • Geographic target (for instance, neighborhood, ward, or school)
  • Program Method(s) to increase access and skills
    • Device lending or refurbishment
    • Internet access assistance
      • Reduced or subsidized at-home Internet subscriptions
      • Hotspot lending
      • Public Wi-Fi
    • Training support
      • Subject, software or tool being taught (for instance, Microsoft Excel)
      • Delivery of training (for instance, one-on-one or class)

In our work, we have found to that staying broad in our classification is best to ensure we do not miss valuable partners. There are hybrid programs that are not “tech” or “digital” intentionally, but have a computer learning components that make them important parts of this ecosystem. We’ve tried to strengthen our relationship with the literacy community in Chicago for this reason; often ESL, reading, or adult education programs introduce digital learning or technology to accomplish their goals. Sometimes digital skills are the “why” and sometimes they are the “how.”

post pic 1

The Next Step: A Referral Network Mapping Paths of Learning Across the Ecosystem

Understanding the ecosystem is the prerequisite to mapping out the digital/tech learning pathways for Chicagoans. Where is a safe place for someone to start learning? Where can they go next given their goals? These are the questions we seek to answer. 

Dozens of programs and training sites have already filled out the Digital Access & Skills Referral Network Survey. The questions are reminiscent of the framework above for a good reasons. We want to take inventory of the mission & method of the program and where that program sits across the different layers of our digital access & skills ecosystem.

survey scsh

Once this information is collected and shared with our collaborators, we can co-create a referral network. For the first time, we, as an ecosystem will have a formal map in place that tells us how one program relates to, partners with, can partner with, or can amplify the work of others. In reaction to each individual program’s survey, other programs will indicate:

“I would refer my patrons to this program”

– and / or –

“I would recruit patrons who completed this program”

We document this work and this taxonomy system not only in the hopes that it will benefit our partners in Chicago, but that it will benefit other cities who seek to define, coordinate, and evaluate work across their own ecosystems. We encourage all in Chicago’s digital access & skills ecosystem to fill out the survey and come to the Connect Chicago Meetup on January 29th to participate in this important undertaking.

 

Announcing the January Connect Chicago Meetup: Co-Creating a Digital Access & Skills Referral Network

Denise Linn

To kick off 2016, the Connect Chicago Meetup Group is inviting all tech/digital skills instructors and program coordinators to convene and help us understand how our work and missions fit together.

Event Name: Co-Creating Chicago’s Digital Access & Skills Referral Network

Where: Chicago Community Trust

When: Friday, January 29, 2016 from 11am – 1pm (lunch provided)

All who are interested in attending should:

  • Join the Connect Chicago Meetup Group if you haven’t already
  • RSVP to the event at this link
  • Fill out the Digital Access & Skills Referral Network Survey

$1000 will be awarded to a participating program or training site! To be eligible to win the funds on behalf of a program or training site, you must be in attendance and have filled out the Digital Access & Skills Referral Network Survey.

Here is a glimpse of just some of the great work across Chicago that will be represented at the Meetup:

techgyrls

Humboldt Park Library Job Club Flyer

Safer

Why Build a Referral Network?

There are over 250 locations across the city where residents can access a computer and be trained for free. Having a long list of programs and public computing locations is not enough. We also want to understand the relationship between existing resources.

We’ve heard feedback from programs across the city like this: “We’d like to know where to get patrons and where to refer our patrons next in their learning paths. How does all of our work fit together?” or “we’d like to know what a roadmap for digital access & skills programming looks like across the City.”

We’ve also held focus groups with residents who had similar questions: “When I’m done at X program, I’d like to know where I should go next. What are my best opinions? What’s the next logical skill to work on or place/trainer to visit?”

Attendees will share their own program information, and share important information about their relationship to others’ programs — specifically, whether they would partner with that program, refer patrons to that program, or recruit patrons who finished that program.

We will pull the information collected that the January 29th Meetup together and release it. Our goal is to create a more fluid understanding of the great programs that are located all over the city in the service of a shared culture of learning. 

 

Ideas for Collaboration Between Digital Literacy & Traditional Literacy Organizations

Denise Linn

Smart Chicago’s resident membership at Literacenter means that our Connect Chicago trainers and programs can collaborate with the greater literacy community in Chicago. We see great potential for these two communities to strengthen one another and create a useful cross-program referral network for residents.

On November 24th, I led a Brown Bag Lunch at Literacenter and put forth some of ideas for how literacy organizations and digital literacy organizations can amplify each other’s work. Literacenter DT + TL Slide

Why Does this Collaboration Matter?

First, basic literacy is often a prerequisite for most digital skills trainings. For instance, Smart Chicago is giving away free licenses to the youth browser-based game Taken Charge, but the game is best for students at a 3rd grade reading level or above. Second, strengthening one’s reading or writing and strengthening one’s digital skills are not always achieved separately. For instance, our friends at Hooray for Learning use technology to help teachers foster creative writing. The Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition is undertaking a Technology Pilot Program for their adult learners, recognizing that technology literacy has a place in the greater literacy mission.

Of course, without access to devices and the Internet, gaining digital skills and literacy skills through technology is difficult. This is a challenge that Chicago’s literacy and digital literacy organizations share. In both fields, there is a reliance on the existence of at-home supplementary resources. Residents can retain knowledge and practice skills easily when they have books, devices, connections and social support in the comfort of their homes.  

Frameworks for Collaboration

When we think about ways that these two fields can work together, it helped to begin by understanding how they are different and similar:

Literacenter DigLit vs Lit Slide

The goods news is that digital literacy/skill-building programs and more general literacy programs have complementary strengths and needs:

Literacenter Inventory Slide

While digital skills programming can do more to serve and reach residents at lower reading and English language levels, that happens to the literacy community’s comfort zone. Digital skills programming can take note of literacy programs’ best practices on cohort learning and social support while learning. Both sets of programming are conducted by trusted institutions and both are in need of a strong referral network for its patrons. Where do we we send a job seeker at “X” reading level who wants to learn “X” computer skill?

Here are some preliminary ideas we can run with:

Literacenter Brown Bag Lunch November 24, 2015

This is a start. Through more gatherings like the one last week, we can expand the list of ideas above and understand the added value that collaboration can bring to each field’s mission.

Smart Chicago’s full presentation here:

Thanks so much to representatives from Literacenter, Chicago Literacy Alliance, Literacy Works, Chicago Public Library, WTTW, Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition, Open Books, Hooray for Learning, the Children’s Literacy Initiative, and others for coming out to the lunch and participating in this important conversation!